Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The Beatles Remember Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
1. The Beatles, “Rishikesh No. 9”
In 1968, the Beatles flew to India, quit LSD, and studied transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This scratch recording — of traditionals like “Jingle Bells” and “She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” — is a horrifying taste of what they sounded like while not under the influence of mind-expanding psychedelic drugs. [Captain’s Dead]
2. John Lennon, “Happy Rishikesh Song”
Lennon parodies George Harrison’s “Blow Away,” mocking hippies, meditation, and the maharishi in one cruel swipe. It’s pretty catchy. [Across the Universe]
3. The Beatles, “Child of Nature”
Before Lennon scrapped it (and later reshaped it into “Jealous Guy”), this gorgeous acoustic ballad — about being stoned in India, as far as we can tell — was in the running for inclusion on “The White Album.” Surely it would’ve been a better choice than either of Ringo’s songs. [Captain’s Dead]
4. The Beatles, “Spiritual Regeneration”
As a birthday present to Mike Love, also a student of the maharishi, the Beatles recorded a song about meditation in the style of the Beach Boys. Man, the sixties were hilarious. [Captain’s Dead]
5. John Lennon, “India, India”
Lennon wrote this track in the seventies for a later-canceled stage musical on his and Yoko’s lives. It was resurrected in 2005 for Broadway’s Lennon, which was, regrettably, a huge flaming stinker. Song’s not bad, though. [YouTube]
Related: Meditation on the Man Who Saved the Beatles [NYT]
The Beatles Remember Maharishi Mahesh Yogi